Biannually WISE organizes an initiative with local municipality/community that aims to mobilize youth towards community priorities through series of meaningful activities co-curated in collaboration with relevant local and global learning ecosystems stakeholders. This year the DLD Community Program serves to promote social awareness, responsibility and innovation towards sustainability as a societal priority in Al-Wakra, Qatar.
Why focus on Al-Wakra? Al-Wakra are constituents of the UNESCO Learning Cities’ Network.
The campaign serves to support the municipality’s effort to meet their SDGs on building sustainably aware communities through multisectoral and grass-roots collaboration.
The objectives of this program is to:
In collaboration with the Ali Bin Towar network, WISE will launch a cycling challenge that serves to further develop community- building around societal topics, specifically health and sustainability, through a grass-roots activities and fun challenges – Interested to join? Register below!
Come join us at the Ride of Champions! WISE in collaboration with Ali Bin Towar, will be participating in a group cycling challenge to further promote health and sustainability! Kicking off at Education City, participants will come together in a ride for sustainability and health and journey towards Al-Otaryaand and back as part of an effort to promote civic activity and engagement.
Kick off Location: Education City, Ceremonial Court
Gathering Time: 6:00am
This 12 KM running challenge will kick off in Fuwayrit, and entail a journey through Qatar’s natural landscapes such as the hills, beaches, and old towns.
Kick off Location: Fuwayrit
Kick off Time: 5:30am -7:30am
5 day hybrid program curated specifically for Qatar Academy Wakra students to explore sustainability through interactive and meaningful activities.
This guided discussion spotlighting- Ali, cyclist, media personality and environmental activist- on the importance of social responisibility towards sustainability in Qatar. He will share stories about his work travels abroad and how he learned that climate change is not only a global issue but one of local relevance. Ali will share more about whale shark preservation in Qatar and discuss with the students the importance of being eco-minded. With an opportunity for the students to ask Ali questions, this session will be a great way to connect young students with comminity change-makers!
This session will explore the benefits of planting on student’s own journey towards health, growth, self-sufficiency and environmentalism. During this engagement students will learn about the full agricultural cycle: planting, growing, harvesting and selling produce and how Qatar’s greenhouses are supporting such efforts.
Students will experience GNG’s Student To World: Ocean Health program. It allows young people to bring life to both local and global ecosystems, connects individual behaviors with the health of our planet, and inspires them to take action in their local and global communities. In the 4 modules over two days, students will learn more about the use of plastic and its impact on the health of oceans and marine life. Kicking off the modules, Dr. Mohammed Al-Jaidah will share more about his work in Qatar with whale sharks and ocean health perservation.
The Challenge has been developed with a series of levels and activities at each stage which must be completed in order to advance on to the next level. This is meant to push young people to become aware of the issues threatening the planet, as well as to engage them in a fun and challenging undertaking which can lead to a sense of personal fulfillment in taking responsibility for the planet’s well-being. This badge also encourages the development of leadership skills and meaningful, impactful change-making.
This activity will explore how the city of Al-Wakra has historically had strong linkages to the environment, particularly the ocean through fishing and pearl-diving. . The traditional dhow boats used in these pursuits inspired the design of Al Janoub Stadium. This activity will have two components: (1) how sustainability currently threads through the design of the stadium and the community spaces around the stadium specifically the parkland with, 800 new trees and low-water-consumption vegetation, will include space for horse riding, running tracks and cycle lanes (2). creative activity that will have the students design their own interpretations of what the a sustainable green space being developed around the Al-Janoub should consist of.
We will watch two acts of the new educational show “Crash Test World” focused on sustainability in Qatar and New York City. With a special guest from the episode, we will explore similarities and differences in what sustainability means in Qatar and in New York City, and how we can all implement sustainable practices in our lives. Guided by “essential questions” addressed in each segment, students will reflect on their community’s efforts towards sustainability naturally sourced local foods.
VCU Students to mentor a group of school students, who work collaboratively on a series of repurposing workshops that include activities such as using discarded mask strings to create drawstrings for homemade grocery bags that can be made out of old clothes, creating face shields out of plastic bottles, using old thoobs and sheilas to make masks, using plastic bottles to create mini greenhouses and more!
Across the course of a week, local students, ages ranging between 15 -25 years old, were engaged in a series of activities that explored the overlap of sustainability, urban design, recycling, and photography. Activities included online discussions and photography workshops, followed by a walk through Al-Wakra city where students curated a visual narrative that highlighted sustainability and urban development of their community. The outcomes of these activities will be curated into an exhibition open for the public at al Wakra Metro station to enjoy, date tbc.
